Arbitration for suspended account reinstatement:
Arbitration is a private process where disputing parties agree that one or several individuals can make a decision about the dispute after receiving evidence and hearing arguments. We’ve learned that it’s virtually impossible to get an arbitrator to order Amazon to reinstate your account, therefore, we approach a team that works with Amazon’s lawyers instead.
Arbitrators will not generally require one private entity to do business with another. And that’s exactly what Amazon is, a private entity.
What happens when you file for arbitration is that your entire case goes to a high-level set of teams.
One team is with Amazon’s outside counsel, and the other team is comprised of the people that Amazon’s lawyers work with.
We’ve seen many cases where reinstatement has been impossible unless it escalates to these higher levels. However, just going through the arbitration process and having different people with pull at Amazon work on your issues will often result in resolutions where reinstatement is granted, releasing your money and inventory.
Compared to traditional trials, arbitration can usually be completed quicker and less formally than litigation. For example, often the parties do not have to follow state or federal rules of evidence, and in some cases, the arbitrator is not required to apply the governing law.
This is quite different from litigation, from submitting Plans of Action to Amazon, and other methods of attempting to get your account reinstated. In cases where “related account issues” are cited as the cause for suspension, positive resolutions for the seller only usually come about after arbitration against Amazon.
Related account suspensions are quite challenging because Amazon doesn’t reveal to you what the specific “related information” was that was linked to your account. It could be a similar email address, you could have logged on from shared wifi, you could have similar or even identical inventory to another seller – whatever it was, it triggered Amazons related account issues flagging.
If your account is down for a related account issue, and you do not have another account with Amazon, arbitration is a great way of getting a fresh set of eyes to look at the case.
When you file for arbitration, after being suspended for a related accounts issue, you’re going to have two sets of teams looking at your claims. This provides a better chance for your case to be considered, for the citation to be removed, and for your account to be re-instated.